Football briefs: Rams could be on track for full-scale overhaul after canning coach

Monday

Sep 29, 2008 at 12:01 AMSep 29, 2008 at 7:02 AM

PFW news on the Rams, Packers, Vikings, Lions and the latest Fantasy Buzz.

Pro Football Weekly Staff

The Way We Hear It

In the first 30 minutes of their Week Four game against the undefeated Bills, the Rams showed some signs of actual life for the first time this season.

But the way we hear it, after they ran out of gas in the second half of what ended up being a 31-14 loss, the situation in St. Louis had become way too big a mess for beleaguered head coach Scott Linehan to hang on to his job.

That was confirmed Monday morning when the Rams sent out a press release announcing that defensive coordinator Jim Haslett would be taking over as interim head coach effective immediately.

Haslett, who was head coach of the Saints for six seasons before coming to St. Louis, has been the Rams’ defensive coordinator since 2006.

“I have enormous respect for Scott Linehan as a person and believe under the right circumstances he will be regarded one day as a fine head coach,” Rams owner and chairman Chip Rosenbloom said. “Unfortunately, the situation with the Rams as they exist today is no longer acceptable, and we have to make a change. We do this with a heavy heart, and we thank Scott for his efforts and dedication on behalf of the Rams.

“By appointing the well-respected Jim Haslett as our head coach, we are making an interim move that we hope will make the Rams winners again.”

Beyond this move, sources close to the scene have indicated that president of football operations/general manager Jay Zygmunt, who numerous league observers believe is more to blame for the Rams’ embarrassing decline than Linehan, is expected to be out of the picture at season’s end due to serious health issues.

“Apparently a few people have been through here (interviewing for Zygmunt’s job),” one team insider told PFW.

After the Rams lost their first eight games last season but rebounded with three victories in their next four games, team president John Shaw gave Linehan a reprieve.

Shaw reasoned at the time that the inordinate number of injuries — 12 players finished the season on injured reserve, half of them starters — was the main factor responsible for one of the worst campaigns in franchise history.

But this season, even though there are a few key contributors who have been nicked up in varying degrees, injuries have been the least of the team’s problems.

A much bigger problem was the dwindling support Linehan was receiving from his players, who we hear didn’t take kindly at all to the substantial retooling he did in advance of the Rams’ latest loss. Six new starters — two on offense and four on defense — took the field against the Bills, including local product Trent Green, who Linehan hoped would provide a badly needed spark under center in place of the high-priced Marc Bulger.

But one day after the changes were announced, RB Steven Jackson, the team’s star player, said on his local Thursday-night radio show that the benching of Bulger was the “wrong decision,” adding that he wasn’t the only player on the team who felt that way.

“I just don’t like it at all,” Jackson said. “There are more people that can take the blame for this. I don’t think it’s fair that one person takes the blame. You don’t put your head guy, the general, the staple center, and bench him with no excuse. It’s not right.”

As for Bulger, team sources told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch late last week that he was fed up and no longer wanted to play in St. Louis — a rumor that he wasn’t about to respond to after deciding to distance himself from the local media this past week.

The obvious tension in Earth City increased last Friday when Linehan didn’t meet with reporters right after practice as he usually did, instead storming off in a huff. A few sources close to the scene believe Linehan was summoned to an emergency meeting with Zygmunt.

Another telling sign that a head-coaching change was in the offing was that the annual team photo, which had been scheduled for last Tuesday, was suddenly canceled.

But a more obvious sign was the team’s statistics, which just keep getting uglier by the moment. Since finishing 8-8 in 2006, the Rams lost 17 of their last 20 games under Linehan. In their last eight games, they have been outscored 288-110, which translates into an average score of 36-14.

Those numbers, more than anything, were the final nails in Linehan’s coffin.

“Linehan was making changes to save his job,” a league insider said after the Rams’ latest loss. “He’s looking for something different. It didn’t work. If it did, it could have been a small triumph. It’s not a very good football team.

“You have to blame Zygmunt and Linehan. This team has no emotion. That’s on the head coach. He (Linehan) is not a head coach. He’s an offensive coordinator.”

“The front office is in a lot of disarray,” the insider concluded. “There’s not a lot of hidden secrets. The whole group has been awful.

“The inmates are running the asylum.”

NFL Whispers

PACKERS: We hear DT Justin Harrell, who is on the physically-unable-to-perform list due to a back injury that prevented him from taking a snap this summer, is progressing nicely and appears to be in the best shape since he joined the Packers as a first-round draft pick in 2007.

VIKINGS: Don’t count on FS Madieu Williams (neck) to return to action in the next couple of weeks. Team doctors still haven’t cleared him for action, even though he was supposed to return in Week Four. Williams probably will need at least a full week of practice before he could come back and play in a game.

LIONS: WLB Ernie Sims hasn’t been his dominant self this season, although he’s playing far better than most of the Detroit defenders. Sources say the reason is a painful ankle injury that has hurt Sims’ mobility and planting, but that he should be fine after extra rest during the Week Four bye.

The Fantasy Buzz

No, Seahawks WR Bobby Engram didn’t do anything on Sunday — in fact, Seattle had the week off — but his imminent return should have you flocking to your waiver wire to pick him up. Engram is expected to play in Week Five after missing the first three games with a shoulder injury, and he should immediately become the No. 1 target for QB Matt Hasselbeck. Remember, Engram had 94 catches for 1,147 yards and six TDs in 2007, so he definitely can be a difference-maker. Few free agents have this much upside.

After a quiet start to the season, Cardinals WR Steve Breaston had a breakout game Sunday, grabbing nine passes for 122 yards against the Jets. Those numbers alone would make him an intriguing addition, but the potential loss of WR Anquan Boldin makes him an even stronger pickup. Boldin was knocked unconscious at the end of Sunday’s contest, and his status going forward is unknown. If he misses time, Breaston would step into the starting lineup and be a frequent target in Arizona’s potent passing attack.

Surprising names keep breaking through for the Saints every week, and this week it was WR Lance Moore’s turn. The third-year wideout led the team Sunday with seven catches for 101 yards and two scores, giving him two straight seven-reception games. It looks like he has taken over as QB Drew Brees’ top target while Marques Colston is sidelined, so make it a priority to scoop him off the waiver wire. He could have a few more productive outings as the team’s No. 1 receiver.

For more NFL news and daily fantasy football advice, visit ProFootballWeekly.com.

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